2010
is the year of 3D entertainment by all accounts. 3D TVs and Blu-ray
players are coming to the marketplace and the consumer market is
starting to embrace 3D in the home. 3D films are also hitting
theaters in increasing numbers, raising the profile of 3D technology
even further.

The biggest film to ever hit 3D and the most
successful movie at the box office ever was James Cameron's Avatar.
Avatar
broke box office records around the world and the sales of the film
on Blu-ray are breaking
home entertainment records as well. James Cameron's name is
synonymous with 3D today thanks to the success of the Avatar
film.

Cameron has now teamed up with NASA to help design
a 3D camera that will be placed aboard the next Mars rover
dubbed Curiosity. Curiosity is currently slated to launch towards
Mars in 2011. Plans for a 3D camera aboard the rover were reportedly
scrapped due to budget concerns earlier in the project.

CNET
News
reports that Cameron stepped in and convinced NASA to include the 3D
camera on the rover. CBS
News reports
that Cameron explained to NASA administrators that a rover with a 3D
camera would help people connect with the mission.

The new
3D camera is now being built by Malin Space Science Systems and lists
Cameron as a co-investigator in the project. The Curiosity rover has
the official name Mars Science Laboratory and it is being sent to
Mars to study whether or not the planet has or could support
microbial life.

"I'd be pissed too, but you didn't have to go all Minority Report on his ass!" -- Jon Stewart on police raiding Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's home